PATRON
Alexander McCall Smith was born in what is now Zimbabwe, and was educated there and in Scotland. He became a law professor in Scotland, and it was in this role that he first returned to Africa to work in Botswana, where he helped to set up a new law school at the University of Botswana. For many years he was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, and he has also been a visiting professor at a number of other universities elsewhere, including Italy and the United States. He retired several years ago to concentrate on his writing career, and is now Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh.
In addition to his university work, McCall Smith was for four years the vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the UK, the chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics committee, and a member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO.
Alexander McCall Smith has written more than 60 books, including specialist academic titles, short story collections, and children's books. He is best known for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, set in Botswana, which has risen to the top of bestseller lists throughout the world. The fifth novel in the series, The Full Cupboard of Life, received the UK Saga Award for Wit. The series has been translated into 43 languages and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. McCall Smith is also the author of The Sunday Philosophy Club series, featuring an Edinburgh based female sleuth named Isabel Dalhousie. His 44 Scotland Street series, which first appeared as a daily novel in The Scotsman newspaper, has now been published in book form.
Alexander McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Elizabeth, and he has two daughters. His hobbies include playing wind instruments, and he is the co-founder of an amateur orchestra called "The Really Terrible Orchestra". In 2007 he was made a CBE in the Queen's New Year Honours List, for services to literature.
To see a short film he made about the Alliance's work in Tanzania, click below.
And to see his appeal on behalf of the Alliance, click below.
